It's difficult to see how Canberra teenager Damon Blank, aka Mr Energy, is not the natural successor to the Wiggles as he sings a little of his self-penned children's song Corn on the Cob.
Corn on the cob
Corn on the cob
I could eat it all day
Until the tummy does throb
Eat it on its own
Or with best friend Bob
Sweet and juicy
Corn on the cob
The 18-year-old, who was diagnosed with autism when he was two, sings with such joy and passion that his dream to be a children's entertainer must be a certainty.
His alter ego, Mr Energy, is all about encouraging children to exercise and eat healthy food; Damon is channeling his extroverted personality into a potential career.
"I really want to teach them about good nutrition, making friends, being social, all that jazz, just like The Wiggles did and SesameStreet and Playschool," he explained.
Friday is World Autism Awareness Day, and for Damon, it's a chance to show that people with autism are individuals.
"I think it's really important that people understand that not everyone [with autism] has the exact same mindset, and not everyone has the exact same physical or mental or emotional needs as everyone else," he said.
Canberra-born and -bred, Damon attended mainstream schools - Weetangera Primary, Belconnen High and Melba Copland Secondary School. He took mainstream electives such as drama, music and cooking, but in primary and high school was in a Learning Support Unit for a small group of students with autism, which he said was key.
"If they just threw my butt into mainstream, I probably would not have done as well in school as I would have liked," he said.
A month out of school, Damon attended his first job interview, at a Belconnen fast food outlet. He was supported by Anu Holopainen, a recruitment partner for Workways Australia, a not-for-profit organisation that helps the long-term unemployed to find a job or participate in training or education.
He got the job, and is still there two years later - taking orders, serving customers and working out back. Damon loves interacting with the customers.
"It actually gave me something to do," he said.
"I showed a lot of passion for the job. I love food, except it's incredibly calorific where I am.
"I wanted to find a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It also gave me a chance to sort out my own finances, which a lot of people - especially on the autism spectrum - have a lot of difficulty dealing with."
Ms Holopainen said Damon's success at his first job would no doubt pave the way for bigger and better things.
"I've seen him become more mature and confident, while also getting that routine and consistency," she said.
Damon, who is a regular at the Belconnen Youth Centre, said one of his ideas as a children's entertainer was playing seven different characters, each representing a colour of the rainbow and a healthy food of the same colour. But that's just the start.
"Something that I said in the year 12 yearbook for my school was 'Find a dream and actively chase it down like cops and robbers ... and #6'3" because I want to be that tall'," he said.
